Overview
- Brent hovered near $69 a barrel and WTI around $64 in early Wednesday trade as prices held in a tight range.
- Washington and Tehran pledged to keep Oman-mediated nuclear talks going, which eased immediate conflict fears even as Iran warned it would strike U.S. bases if attacked.
- The U.S. Maritime Administration advised American-flagged vessels to avoid Iranian waters near the Strait of Hormuz, a corridor for roughly one-fifth of global oil flows.
- A private American Petroleum Institute survey pointed to a 13.4 million-barrel U.S. crude inventory build, and traders are awaiting the Energy Information Administration’s official figures.
- Indian refiners are curbing purchases of Russian seaborne crude and the EU is weighing broader service bans tied to Russian exports, reshaping near-term trade flows.